Design Equitable Schools at the CityBridge Summer Design Studio August 15-17
Register for the Summer Design Studio on August 15-17, 2018. At CityBridge, we work with brilliant and creative educators to build equitable schools. We believe that the process of creating and transforming schools is as important as the outcomes those schools produce for students. That is why our partners begin by asking big, bold questions…
Design Thinking with the Opportunity Academies
Transforming schools is big work, but it starts at the level of individuals. Earlier this month, we facilitated a workshop at Ballou High School with more than fifty educators from the four DCPS Opportunity Academies: Ballou STAY, Luke C. Moore, Roosevelt STAY, and Washington Metropolitan. The purpose of this experience was to introduce staff and…
25 in Five: A Letter from our CEO
Dear Friends, On January 1, 2017, we launched CityBridge Education, a nonprofit enterprise dedicated to advancing equity and opportunity for all children. CityBridge Education will pursue this goal through school creation—incubating and launching new schools and transforming existing ones, in partnership with the traditional public (DCPS) and charter sectors in Washington, D.C. Our goal: 25…
Announcing CityBridge’s 16 New Breakthrough Schools: D.C. Winners
Last night, more than 200 educators, thought leaders, and funders gathered in Mundo Verde Public Charter School‘s beautiful zócalo (public square or gathering place) to celebrate the announcement of nearly $650K in seed grants to 16 DCPS and public charter schools in Washington, D.C. These awards mark the third round of CityBridge Education’s Breakthrough Schools: D.C. school…
Starting With Students: One Teacher’s Design Thinking Journey
“Innovation” was a buzzword humming around the educational zeitgeist when I started the Education Innovation Fellowship in January. When I talk to people about the program, they often ask what that word, “innovation,” means, and I have to admit, I was wary of the fuzzy term. Luckily, the innovation I have found is something clear…
And the Winners Are…
Drumroll, please…the winning ideas from Startup Weekend EDU D.C.: Next Gen Schools! The teams were lined up, the mic check was done, more than 50 people had arrived to watch, our judges were in place—and our emcee, Caroline Hill, started the slow clap announcing the kickoff to Sunday’s final Startup Weekend EDU D.C.: Next Gen…
Disrupting Education: Startup Weekend EDU D.C.
Early in the tech industry’s meteoric rise, it brought us the concept of the startup. Traditionally, we picture startups as small organizations, headquartered in garages, with lots of promise and little certainty. And we know that sometimes, on the power of an idea, those startups become billion-dollar companies like Apple or Hewlett-Packard. What we often…
How a Breakthrough School Beat Summer Learning Loss
Students in America lose an average of one month of learning over the summer. That’s not a lack of progress—that’s a backwards slide in math and reading, as if four weeks of hard work by students and teachers hadn’t happened during the school year itself. This summer learning loss “disproportionately affects low-income students”—like the students…
How to Avoid Post-REVIVAL Stress Disorder (PRSD)
I’m a PK (Pastor’s Kid), so I know a spiritual revival when I see one. On the Education Innovation Fellows‘ 2015 trip to California, we have not entered any makeshift churches out of white tents, but in equally inspiring, open, and creative spaces, we have been challenged to respond to a call of action to join…
Rethinking American Schools
The world looks very different today than it did when our current school system was designed. Ours is no longer an agricultural economy; we rely on skills over content knowledge; we carry computers in our pockets. And, as times have changed, our school systems’ shortcomings are showing. In order to serve all students in the…